Lake Berryessa inches toward full capacity

Aided by an afternoon breeze, waves from the lake water spill over the top of the Lake Berryessa Glory Hole. As of 9 a.m. Thursday morning the water was a mere 2.4 inches below the top of the spillway.
Joel Rosenbaum — The Reporter

As of 9 a.m. Thursday morning the water was a mere 2.4 inches below the top of the Lake Berryessa Glory Hole. According to the Lake Berryessa News, the lake has risen slightly more than 36 feet since the first of the year and more than 41 feet since it was at its lowest in October 2016.
Joel Rosenbaum — The Reporter

Sometime Friday, or maybe Saturday water once again will cascade into Lake Berryessa’s Glory Hole for the first time since 2006

Actually, the event occurred on Thursday, but a took heavy winds in the Monticello Dam area to force the lake’s water into the hole, leaving many still aching to witness the water spill on its own.

“I’ve been saying it’s (water) finally going to over for the past week and a half,” laughed Solano Irrigation District Water and Power Operations Manager Kevin King. “I was expecting more watershed to happen, but there hasn’t been much runoff that would have caused it to spill.”

As of Thursday morning, Lake Berryessa resided at 439.8 feet, marking it just 2.4 inches below the Glory Hole (440 feet). According to Peter Kilkus of Lake Berryessa News, now at 99.95 percent of its capacity, Lake Berryessa is close to being full. Remarkably, the lake’s level this time last year was 401.2 feet. Since the lake’s low of 398.6 feet on Oct. 23, 2016, the level has increased 41.2 feet, said Kilkus.

Though so close to glory, it will take some rain in the coming days to make it fully validated. With rain expected all day Friday, for the many, locals who have flocked to the Monticello Dam, eager to witness history, those rooting for glory will likely get their wish.

“The next inch or so (of rain) should put it over the top of the spillway,” explained King. “I expect it to happen before Saturday morning, based on the forecast we have now.”

With Lake Berryessa nearing full capacity, last Friday, SID turned on all three generators at the 11.5-megawatt Monticello Powerhouse below the dam, which has since released outflow into the Putah Creek. SID operates and maintains Monticello Dam, which is a part of the Solano Project. The federal Solano Project supplies water to Solano County cities such as Vacaville, Fairfield, and Suisun City.

Eric Shahnazarian, of Fairfield, was one of the many individuals who made the trip to the Monticello Dam Thursday. For Shahnazarian, the wind-created spill was good enough for him. “As far as I’m concerned, it’s (the lake) full,” he claimed. Shahnazarian revealed that he had been closely following the state of the lake in recent years as a result of the drought.

“I became worried as more nearby cities were having to tap into our water resources during the drought,” he said. “But it’s nice to know mother nature can fool anybody; a lot of people were saying it would never fill up again.”

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Vacaville resident Doug Payne made one of his many recent trips to the dam Thursday to relish the site of the now almost full lake.

“I’ve been coming since it was about 20 feet from the top,” said Payne, who added that he brings his boat up to the lake every summer. “ Now people won’t have to travel as far to a full lake.”

During the drought, it was difficult for those who frequented the lake, Payne recalled.

“There were days when the lake was dropping a foot a day,” he said. “Boat ramps were closed, people were damaging their props, there were no parking spots, and you’d have to repark your boat every day for it not to get stuck on shore.”

Payne is still amazed at just how fast the lake filled.

“Pretty amazing,” he said. “To see it full again is like Christmas come early.”